Lynches River Electric Cooperative is committed to strengthening the communities we serve by retaining current business customers and attracting new industrial and commercial businesses to our service areas in Chesterfield, Lancaster and Kershaw counties. We strive to provide reliable electricity at an affordable rate to all our members. Our linemen and our professional staff are top-notch by demonstrating excellent service to our members.
Lynches River Electric Cooperative works not only with our local County Economic Development boards but with South Carolina Department of Commerce, North Eastern Strategic Alliance (NESA), and South Carolina Power Team to recruit new industries to our communities which in turn creates jobs and new opportunities for our members. There are available properties for new industries within all our 3 county service areas. LREC has incentives available to help recruit new industries to our areas as well as assisting existing industries with an expansion. Each project is evaluated for qualifying incentives through our sources. We also work with our partners to help identify other incentive sources for prospective new industries or expansion projects for existing industries. Some of our incentives include:
- Grants – The South Carolina Power Team along with Lynches River Electric Cooperative can combine their grant funds to incentivize a strong electrical user on our system. SC Power Team can match the LREC grant and in some instances can have a larger match depending on the grant amount from LREC. SC Power Team has dedicated grant funds to help a project move forward with their plans. Grant awards are usually gauged on electricity load, job creation and investment.
- Incentivized Electric Rates – Rates can be determined by the load factor of the industry. If the industry meets the threshold of a large power user, an incentivized rate is provided from five (5) to eight (8) years depending on the load. When the industry provides the load, then LREC along with Central Electric Power Cooperative will determine the discounted rate.
- Utility Tax Credits (UTC) – Each year LREC has UTCs available in accordance with the South Carolina Department of Revenue that either can be processed through the County for eligible expenses or used directly for a prospective project in our service area. Eligible expenses may be infrastructure improvements, construction and up-fits to County-owned buildings or acquisition of land that will be County owned. The respective County must make the required reporting to the SC Department of Revenue according to their guidelines for the use of the UTCs.
- Rural Economic Development Loans (REDL) – This is through USDA (Unites States Department of Agriculture) funding projects in rural areas. Under this program, USDA provides zero-interest loans to local utilities for 10 years. The local utility acts as the intermediary and passes it through to eligible projects as a loan to be repaid to the local utility. There is no more than a 1% annual service charge on the outstanding principal balance of the loan. Learn more about the Rural Economic Development Loan & Grant Program »
- Other incentives – LREC coordinates with the County and the State for other possible incentives for new and existing industries that may be located in our service areas.
It is often difficult to navigate various entities within our service areas so let us help. Lynches River Electric Cooperative has a dedicated Economic Development Advisor to assist with development and electricity needs. If you have questions, please contact Kim Burch at kim.burch@lynchesriver.com.
Available Properties
Lynches River Electric Cooperative has been instrumental in developing available industrial properties in Chesterfield, Lancaster, and Kershaw counties. These properties will enhance the opportunities within these counties for jobs for our citizens and improve the quality of life.
For further information please go to these county Economic Development sites:
- Chesterfield – www.chesterfieldcountysc.org
- Lancaster – www.lcded.com
- Kershaw – www.kershawcountysc.org
Economic Development Partners:
- SC Power Team – www.scpowerteam.com
- NESA (Northeastern Strategic Alliance) – www.nesasc.org
- SC Department of Commerce – www.sccommerce.com